VIDEO: Gergen: Millennials can be the next great generation

Speaking to a crowd of hundreds in King Chapel, political analyst and author David Gergen gave a message of hope: that although the political system in America might not be working the way we’d like, there are many positive signs.

“I feel there is a lot of evidence that even though our politics aren’t working the way they should … There are a lot of Americans putting their shoulders to the wheel and getting things done and finding other answers, and that’s what gives me hope tonight,” Gergen said.

He cited the leadership by some on alternative energy and the way the Millennial generation—those born between 1980 and 2000—is committed to service.

Gergen, who served as a political advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton, and now is editor-at-large at U.S. News and World Report and teaches at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, spoke at length about the younger generation. He said that they aren’t riven by the ideological and political debates so prevalent now in Washington, something that reminds him more of the World War II generation more than the Baby Boomers.

David Gergen gives the 2010 Delt lecture from Cornell College on Vimeo.

David Gergen, political analyst, author and political advisor to presidents for more than 30 years, speaks about what gives him hope for the future.

Previous Delt Lecture speakers have been George Stephanopoulos, Fareed Zakaria and Bob Woodward. The series is funded by an endowment that originated with a group of early 1960s Delt alumni who wanted to leave a legacy after the 1998 Delt centennial. They and others have donated $625,000 to the endowment.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette wrote an article about Gergen’s speech, which you can see here, and you can see photos from his visit here.